Hannah Stapleton wins the 2022 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize with 'Blue Tears'
The College announced the 2022 winner of its prestigious Fiction Prize at tonight’s award ceremony.
Congratulations to the six talented authors selected this year.
In a year of exceptional entries, we are thrilled to unveil our 2022 Shortlist:
- Hannah Stapleton - Blue Tears
- Claire Ackroyd - My Family, Decomposed
- Mary Boland - Bridget
- Natalie Baker - Silent as a Shade
- Sarah Frances Armstrong - The Final Festival of Flowers
- Anna Latimer - The Language of Birds
Read more about the shortlisted authors here
The winner will be announced on Thursday 26th of May 2022 at our prize-giving evening at Lucy Cavendish College.
All shortlisted entrants will receive one-to-one consultation with an agent at our sponsor Peter Fraser + Dunlop who will give each author editorial feedback as well as valuable publishing advice. In addition, the 2022 winner will receive a cash prize of £1,500.
The judging panel for 2022 includes Tim Bates (Head of the Books Department and literary agent at Peters Fraser + Dunlop), Jackie Ashley and Sophie Hannah (Honorary Fellows of Lucy Cavendish College), Gillian Stern (editor and ghost-writer), Sara Collins (author), Phoebe Morgan (Harper Collins Editorial Director and author), Dr Isobel Maddison and Lindsey Traub (Fellows Emeritae of Lucy Cavendish College).
Read more about the judges here
Fiction Prize Judge, Gillian Stern, notes “This year's shortlist is one of the best I have ever seen. All the finalists are winners in my book, and I am very much looking forward to our final judging panel, which I anticipate is going to be lively and impassioned. Meanwhile, congratulations to all the shortlisted authors, and all you publishers out there - get ready to be wowed!'”
College President, Dame Madeleine Atkins said, “Congratulations to this year’s shortlist. We received hundreds of exceptionally strong entries and so it is a great accomplishment to make it to the shortlist. We wish you all the best for the next stage of the competition.”
Since the Prize’s foundation in 2010, many of our shortlisted authors have been offered agency representation and have gone on to be published, many of their books becoming bestsellers. We are extremely proud at Lucy Cavendish to be the starting point in numerous entrants’ success stories, giving them the platform to launch successful and ongoing careers as novelists.
"Being shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize played a huge part in launching my career as a writer. Agents and publishers really take notice of this prize - in fact, I met my editor for the first time at the prize giving evening - although I didn't know then that she would become my editor! It was also instrumental in me getting an agent as quickly as I did." Laura Marshall, 2016 shortlist.
Read more about the successful authors here
About Lucy Cavendish College
Lucy Cavendish College’s mission is to attract, support and unlock the potential of students from non-traditional and underrepresented backgrounds who are driven by a desire to make a difference and committed to having a positive and lasting impact on society.
Our undergraduate and postgraduate students come from over sixty countries and a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds. Many have changed careers or overcome significant challenges in order to reach University.
Lucy Cavendish Student Fiction Prize
In addition to the main Prize, the College runs the Lucy Cavendish Student Fiction Prize. Funded by the Florence Staniforth Award for Excellence in Creative Writing, this was open to students from any discipline studying at Lucy Cavendish and entry was free of charge. The winner of the Student Prize will be awarded £100 and will be announced on the same evening as the main Fiction Prize winner’s announcement.
Contact information
www.fictionprize.co.uk Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge, T: 01223 768426, E: comms@lucy.cam.ac.uk
To find out more about the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize click here.